Tag Archives: a pastel a day

Sky on Fire

Sky on Fire, 5×7″ pastel on gessoed mat board by Marie Marfia

I stepped outside this morning, letting the dogs out to pee, and when I turned around, this happened.

The sky was on fire and it held me spell bound as I walked down the dirt road opposite our house. The dogs didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, but to them, every day is the best day. It’s just humans who make a fuss about sunrises and sunsets.

I brushed out my first attempt at this and started over, trying to paint how I felt instead of what I thought I saw. They’re two different things, you know.

Wave Portrait No. 131

I did today’s wave painting without a reference photo. Just started with the shadow in the middle and worked my way out from there. I used to draw like this all the time. I would touch my pen to the paper and see where it led me. This painting’s process was like that. I started with a dark blue shadow and with no idea how the wave would shape itself.

The trick is to have no expectations. It’s easier when you don’t use a photo because then you don’t have anything to compare the final painting with. If it works, it works, and it doesn’t matter how much or how little it resembles anything else. It’s nice to go with the flow of the work without worrying about capturing a likeness.

Wave Portrait No. 131, 5×7″ pastel on UArt paper by Marie Marfia. Painting available on Etsy. Prints available on Fine Art America. Wave Portrait No. 131, detail, 5×7″ pastel on UArt paper by Marie Marfia. Painting available on Etsy. Prints available on Fine Art America.